


Sleeping Arrangements

by saltseawitch



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-10-22
Packaged: 2020-12-28 13:31:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21137507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saltseawitch/pseuds/saltseawitch
Summary: When Yasha returns to the group Beau begins to act weird around Jester. When night falls they're supposed to share a bed, but Beau's got other plans, and Jester begins to wonder if the romantic vibes she was picking up off Beau were all in her head.(Shitty summary but I swear the writings a lot better)





	Sleeping Arrangements

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Crit Role fic, I'm still trying to get the character's voices right in my head. Un-beta'd so let me know if there are mistakes and I'll do my upmost to fix them. Reviews are welcomed and appreciated. Please be kind, I'm new at this. Hit me up on Tumblr at saltseawitch.

The sun shone through the purple paned windows of the Pillow Trove Inn, illuminating the lobby that Jester had just entered. The Pillow Trove was no Lavish Chateau, Jester thought. However, sleeping in a nice fluffy bed was far better than sleeping on the ground in Caleb’s bubble, which was where most of the Mighty Nein had been sleeping for the past two weeks while on the road back from Nicodranus.

_It will be great if Caleb can find a teleportation circle in Zadash, _Jester thought as she ascended the stairs that led to her shared bedroom.

Regardless of how welcoming the sight of the Inn had been, Jester felt that the purple and gold columns that adorned the lobby were gaudy compared to her former home. When she considered the bright blue front, the warm stained-glass atmosphere, and the glowing effect the Ruby’s thaumaturgy created, the Pillow Trove seemed harsh in comparison. And of course, the Inn was lacking one important factor, there was no Marian Lavorre.

The smell of fresh lavender that permeated the Inn warmed her to the place slightly as she entered her shared room and plopped down onto one of the beds. The soft scent made her miss her home, with her plush bed and the familiarity of the staff with whom she had grown up. More importantly it made her miss her mother, who she had just left in the turmoil of the war effort, with the added threat of assassination. Giving into her longing Jester decided to message her mom.

“Hello Momma! We all took Caduceus to a bath house for the first time. Which between you and me was a good thing because Caleb was getting stinky again.”

It was true that Caleb had been in desperate need of a bath. They all had after so many weeks on the road. The pink haired firbolg had loved relaxing in the magically heated water, it reminded him of the hot tub back at the Xhorhouse. The whole party had enjoyed the bath, with Fjord being a bit shy, and Beau being a bit flirty with Jester when she had caught her sneaking a peek.

“Also, we found Yasha again! Anyways, I miss you lots. I can’t wait to see you again soon. Love Jester.” She didn’t mind wasting two spell slots to send her message. She doubted that they would be attacked while resting in the Tri-Spire district, and she would get them back while she slept anyway.

When Marian didn’t reply Jester assumed she was with a client and decided to draw in her sketchbook a bit before bed. Settling into the ridiculously soft bed Jester began to draw a stinky Caleb with flies circling his head as her mind began to wander.

Finding Yasha again had been a happy surprise. It had been months since they had gotten her back from Oban, but still whenever she left on a Storm Lord quest Jester got nervous. If there was one thing she had learned on her travels it was that time was precious, and no moment was guaranteed. Molly had taught her that.

Yasha had shown up in the middle of Beau and Jester’s shopping spree. Cad and Fjord had been drinking tea together in a small café and discussing the Wild Mother, while Caleb and Nott were out looking for more ink and paper at Pumat Sol’s. Meanwhile Jester and Beau had been enjoying a day of splurging on things like sweets, and ribbons, and smutty books to read together. Beau had even bought Jester a new set of paints from a vendor near the Chastity’s Nook. Jester had been running low after vandalizing a wall in Nicodranas with a highly realistic picture of Lord Sharpe riding a giant dick. The tiefling thought it was very sweet of Beau to remember she was running low and to buy her a gift.

It was right after Beau had given Jester the paints with a huffed, “Here Jes, these are for you” that Yasha showed up.

Beau immediately put some distance between herself and the blue tiefling as Yasha approached. Jester didn’t think much of it at the time, she was too excited to see the aasimar, whom she had leapt onto gripping her in a vicelike hug. Beau’s greeting had been a bit more reserved, punching her in the arm and mumbling something about not being gone so long next time.

Jester was putting the finishing touches on a sketch of Pumat Prime in his green uniform when the two people she had just been thinking of entered the room. Effectively snapping Jester out of her reminiscence.

Yasha began to get ready for bed, striping down to her smallclothes, while Beau settled into her evening stretches. Neither of them said more than a quick “Hey Jester” to her and she frowned. Yasha was usually reserved with her words, but something had been off with Beau ever since that afternoon. That had Jester in a bad mood. It’s not that she wasn’t happy to see Yasha again after she had been away for so long. She had missed her in the weeks she had been away on her Storm Lord quest for redemption. No, the thing that was bothering Jester was Beau. Specifically, the way Beau acted around Yasha.

Rationally Jester knew that Beau was into Yasha, Beau isn’t known for her subtlety. It’s just that in the months that had passed since they were rescued from the Iron Shepherds, and their trials in Xhorhas, and their current mission to recover the Luxon beacons from the Empire, she thought that Beau had grown closer to her. But once Yasha had returned that afternoon, Beau had been distant, almost cold towards Jester.

It had started when the monk had put space between them when Yasha had shown up out of the blue. Then it continued over dinner when Beau sat as far away from the tiefling as the table would allow. She made no attempt to converse with Jester over dinner, and she drank more heavily than she normally would. Jester wasn’t oblivious, Beau was anxious and tense. She could see it in the way the monk clutched her mug of ale, hear it in her voice, something was wrong with Beau. And it had all started when Yasha had arrived. Jester thought that the only explanation was that Beau didn’t want Yasha to get the wrong impression about the nature of their relationship. After all, she had clearly interrupted what Jester had considered to be a date, but clearly Beau wanted to stress that they were just friends. Jester was surprised by how much that thought hurt her.

Yasha settling in to the bed across from hers, pulled Jester from her thoughts. Her eyes turned to watch Beau finishing up her evening stretches. Her lithe and muscular body moved through each pose seamlessly. Jester was both looking forward to and dreading sharing a bed with Beau that evening. Beau however had another plan in mind because when she finished her last stretch, she took a spare blanket off the edge of the bed and settled herself on the floor just in front of the balcony doors.

Jester’s stomach clenched as if she had just taken a blow from an orc’s club. She and Beau had an unspoken agreement that when there was one bed, they would share it. It had started after Jester had been rescued from the Iron Shepherds. She had developed a bit of a nervous condition when left alone in the dark for too long, and she was often plagued by terrible nightmares. After a particularly bad nightmare, a replaying of the torture that she had watched Yasha endure, Beau had woken her and held her tight. As Jester cried, Beau had rubbed her back and made soft shushing noises like her momma would when she was little. Beau told her that is was okay, she was safe, and Jester had believed her, comforted by Beau’s warmth. Beau didn’t protest when the tiefling had asked her to if she would sleep beside her that night. One night turned into two and then three. After a week of sharing a bed on the road and soothing away Jester’s nightmares the tiefling didn’t have to ask anymore, Beau would just climb into bed with her. But apparently tonight would be different.

Maybe she had been reading too much into Beau’s behavior. As much as she protested that she was an asshole, Beau was a really good friend to Jester. Maybe the bed sharing had been entirely friendly. Maybe this was just like her crush on Fjord and her mistaken belief in their first “kiss”.

Her feelings for Beau had seemed deeper than anything she had felt for Fjord. The way she felt surprised her, she had never expected to fall for her best friend. In all the stories the dashing man would show up out of the blue and sweep the woman off her feet. Falling for Beau had been nothing like that. Loving Beau had come on soft and slow, like nearing a warm fireplace after coming inside from the cold. Her feelings had warmed up after months on the road together, she trusted Beau to have her back, she knew Beau cared for her.

Looking back on the day they had shared together before Yasha had shown up Jester began to overthink. _Doesn’t Beau love me? She said she did on the Ball-Eater. She bought me a present today, and didn’t buy anyone else anything. And when I was sneaking a peek at her in the bath house, didn’t she wink back at me and stuff. Wasn’t that flirting? In our last fight she threw herself in front of that mercenary and took a hit for me. And she risked everything to help rescue me from the Iron Shepherds. Like isn’t that what people who are in love do, risk it all for their true love? _These thoughts and more swirled around Jester’s mind as she lay down in bed, tossing and turning, struggling to find sleep.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

If Jester hadn’t been so consumed by her inner monologue, she would have noticed that the absence of Beau’s usual snores meant that she wasn’t the only one lying awake.

The floor was fucking cold. Beau was freezing, but the floor was worth it if it meant that Yasha didn’t see her cuddled up to Jester. She could play it off when they curled up together in the bubble, there wasn’t enough space for people to sleep without touching, and the tiefling always ran warm. But in the comfort of an Inn there was no excuse for the way she and Jester would gravitate towards each other in their sleep. Beau more often than not woke up as the little spoon, she reveled in the way Jester’s arms made her feel safe, wanted.

And that was the problem, if Yasha saw the way Beau behaved in bed with the blue girl, she would know for sure that Beau had feelings for their friend. Yasha may be quiet and aloof, but she wasn’t unobservant. Beau was sure that if she figured out that she was crushing hard on her best friend that Yasha would tell someone. And if the news made its way around to Nott there would be no end to the teasing Beau would have to endure. She could handle the teasing, but the consequences of Jester finding out about her feelings, through Nott of all people, would be unbearable. She had crushed on straight girls before and it never ended well.

Teeth chattering from the cold, Beau’s mind began to search back to a memory of the first girl she had feelings for. Her name was Marina, and she had been the daughter of one of the families that worked the vineyards on her family’s estate. Beau had never been friends with any of the children who worked for her parents, when it came to Marina however, she tried to put in a little effort. She had become infatuated with the way the older girl carried herself. She was bold for a farmer’s daughter, she walked with a grace that Beau’s parents wished she could pull off. She fell in love with her because she was everything that Beau was not, she had it in her head that Marina could be her other half, a person who could balance her out.

That thought came crashing down when Beau stumbled across her kissing one of the older boys who took care of her family’s estate. Beau had frozen in shock, a fist clenching tightly around her young heart. She tried to walk away from the scene quietly but this was years before her monk training, and the anger boiling in her made her retreat louder than she had intended. Marina saw Beauregard and began to laugh, the sound was cruel, further triggering the anger in Beau. The feeling must have shown on her face because soon Marina stopped laughing. She began to shout at Beau, telling her that her obvious feelings were gross and unnatural.

Beau didn’t often cry, but that day there were tears of shame and self-loathing in her eyes as she turned and ran away from the humiliating scene. She could hear Marina’s continued laughter chasing after her as she ran deep into a vineyard, until her lungs and legs were protesting with pain. She hid deep in the field and curled up underneath a twisted trellis of grape vines. She cried in earnest then, her positive feelings towards Marina had changed in an instant to those of hate. She swore then that she would never let herself get caught off guard regarding her feelings again. When she had exhausted her tears, she fell asleep right there on the vineyard grounds, the beating she got when she returned home in the early hours of the next day had been intense. Apparently, Marina had told Thoreau about Beau’s “unnaturalness” and between that and not returning home the night before, she was in for a world of hurt.

Pulling herself out of the negative flashback Beau wondered if Jester would tell her she was gross if she knew how she felt about her. _Probably not, _she concludes, _Jessie’s too nice to be cold or cruel. She wouldn’t want me to feel bad, but our late-night talks and cuddles would come to an end. _

As much as beau loathed to admit it, she lived for those nights where they would share a bed. She didn’t know what all the hype was about cuddling before she had snuggled up the warm blue tiefling.

So, she decided to smother her feelings, assuming they would go away with time. It was as Beau made this decision that the cold caught up to her. Her teeth began to chatter so loudly she was worried the noise may wake up her roommates. She had gotten used to the warmth of the Nicodranas Coast, and winters in the Empire were truly cold.

She was trying to warm herself up by thinking back on the last few days they had spent on the beach before returning to Zadash when Jester spoke.

“Beau?” the tiefling called out quiet and hesitant.

“Sup Jess?” Beau replied.

“Are you cold?” she asked.

“Nah I’m fine.”

“Beau, I can hear your teeth chattering from over here.” She clacked her own sharper teeth for emphasis, “Come to bed, it’s soft and fluffy and warm.”

“I said I was okay Jester.” Beau said defensively.

But Beau was decidedly not okay, especially when Jester chose to ignore the gruffness in her voice and rose from her bed to make a nest of blankets on the floor beside her.

“Come snuggle, I’m warm and you humans are always so cold and stuff.” she said settling in next to Beau.

“I said I was fine Jes. Go back to bed.” Beau said, stiffening at the physical contact.

“But Beauuuuuuu,” she said drawling out the u sound, “we always cuddle. I don’t know why you’re sleeping on the floor it’s cold and hard and not what we usually do.”

“Keep your voice down, you’ll wake Yasha.”

Jester winces slightly at the way Beau snipped at her.

“You know we don’t always have to sleep together,” Beau says before she can think of her wording. Jester opens her mouth to reply with a dirty joke but Beau quickly cut her off. “You know what I mean. I just wanted to give you some space, you deserve to have the bed to yourself sometimes.”

Jester didn’t reply to Beau at first, but she didn’t move from her spot on the floor either.

After a minute of uncomfortable silence, Jester asked, “Are you mad at me?”

“No Jester, I’m not mad at you.” After a beat Beau continued, “Why would you ask me that?”

“Because you’ve been avoiding me and stuff.” Jester said, hesitantly as if she didn’t want to spook the monk by talking about her behavior.

“I haven’t been avoiding you.” Beau lied, immediately reacting in the way Jester had suspected she would.

“I’m not stupid Beau. Like you didn’t sit next to me at dinner, and you haven’t talked to me all night. And now your sleeping on the floor and stuff.” Jester said.

Beau felt guilt starting to rise within her. Of course Jester would have noticed her behavior.

“I’m never going to call you stupid Jes, you’re so smart, even if people don’t acknowledge it often. I’m not mad, I’m just going through some shit.” she said sincerely.

Jester was quiet so long that Beau began to wonder if she’d fallen asleep. She was startled when Jester asked in her smallest voice, “Is it Yasha stuff?”

“No Jester.”

“Then what is it?”

“Just drop it okay Jes!” Beau said louder and more harshly than she had intended.

She is met with another long silence in which Jester tensed up and Beau immediately felt bad.

Turning to face Jester she said, “Shit, I didn’t mean to shout.”

She whispered to Jester’s back, “I just don’t feel up to talking about it. But if I did you know you’d be the one I would come to right?”

“Ok, goodnight Beau.” Jester whispered back.

They lay together in a tense silence for a while until Beau noticed that Jester’s chest was heaving as if she were crying silently.

“Woah, are you crying?” Beau asked. 

“Is this because of me? Did I fuck up?” Beau asked with increasing panic.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Jester had never felt so rejected, of course Beau wouldn’t want to talk to her about her feelings for Yasha. When she had shouted Jester was shocked, Beau never yelled at her. She must be really annoying her if that was how Beau reacted to her questioning. After saying goodnight, she began to think about how irritating she must have sounded. Cringing inwardly, she began to cry, as quietly as possible so as not to alert Beau. She didn’t want her to think she was pathetic on top of annoying.

It was hard sometimes; Jester had never had friends until the Mighty Nein and sometimes she didn’t know how to act. Between her pestering Beau, and Beau basically confirming that she was hung up on Yasha (admittedly by omission but Jester wasn’t stupid) she was feeling pretty low.

“Woah, are you crying” Beau asked.

She said it with so much concern in her voice that it startled Jester. Still she pretended to be asleep and ignored the question.

“Is this because of me? Did I fuck up?”

The panic in Beau’s voice is what caused Jester to reply. She knows how Beau thinks she is a failure sometimes. Jester hates her parents for the mental trauma they inflicted upon Beau while “raising” her.

Deciding to be honest Jester said, “No Beau, you didn’t do anything wrong, I just thought…”

Her voice trailed off as she fought back another bought of tears. She didn’t want Beau to think she was weak.

“You thought what?” Beau asked.

“That I didn’t read into things again.” Jester replied. If she was going to stay Beau’s friend, she figured she should be honest about her feelings. She thought it must be like ripping off crusty bandaging, quick and virtually painless. Then they could go back to being friends like her and Fjord.

“What do you mean?” Beau asked genuinely puzzled.

“Like Fjord and Avantika!” Jester choked out.

“Avantika?”

“I thought you liked me like I liked you, but it’s Just like with Fjord. I was wrong, no one likes me. I’m unlikeable.” Jester says, voicing a fear that she had been afraid to say out loud until now.

“Woah, Jes you’re so likeable!” Beau blurted out, “You’ve got it all wrong, you’re the most likeable out of the whole Mighty Nein, everyone likes you.”

“But like, not in the way I want them to thought.”

“You mean romantically?” Beau asked perplexed.

“Yes Beau!” Jester huffed in exasperation, “I want someone to sweep me off my feet just like Oskar in Tusk Love.”

“And you wanted me to be your Oskar?” Beau asked hesitantly, and if Jesters not mistaken with a note of hopefulness in her voice.

“Yes! But you’re in love with Yasha and you don’t want to be seen with me anymore.” Jester pouted.

“No!” Beau shouts, Yasha mumbles in her sleep and rolls over to face the wall. Beau continued more quietly, “No, I’m not into Yasha. I mean she was fun to flirt with in the beginning, but I never really saw that going anywhere.”

“Then why were you being so weird at dinner?” Jester asked rolling over to face Beau.

“I didn’t want Yasha to know I was into you. I thought this whole time you were into Fjord; I mean you’re straight.”

“I’m not straight,” Jester said with a small laugh, her tears had subsided when Beau had shouted. “I’m into people, specifically you. Why didn’t you ever make a move if you liked me? You flirted with Reani right away.”

“I’ve crushed on straight girls before. It’s never ended well.” Beau said.

Jester could sense that there was a story there so she pressed Beau for more. Beau opened up about her experience with Marina, she was more honest with Jester than she had been with anyone before. Something about the warm tiefling put Beau at ease.

“She sounds like a bitch.” Jester said, taking Beau’s chin in her hand and tilting her face so she could look her in the eye. “I would never do that to you Beau.”

“I know,” Beau said back softly, her eyes never leaving Jester’s, “but I was afraid that things would change between us if you knew how I felt.”

“They are going to change, duh. But in a good way.” She said with a small smile.

“In a good way?” Beau asked.

“Yes, like now I can do this.” And without any preamble Jester leaned in and kissed Beau.

It was awkward, the angle was a bit off, and Jester didn’t exactly know what she was doing. Beau was caught off guard so it was a bit sloppy, and both of their lips were chapped, but once she caught on Jester could feel a grin forming on her lips. As far as first kisses go it was okay, but to Jester, it was everything she thought it should be, spontaneous, and full of feeling.

Beau pulled back, looked at Jester for a moment with the dopiest grin she had yet seen on her face, then she leaned back in to kiss her properly. It was a much better kiss than their first had been. _This is what a kiss is supposed to feel like _Jester thinks_. This is so much better than Fjord, you know maybe that wasn’t really a kiss. Nott said you are supposed to feel alive when someone kisses you and Fjord made me feel not dead, but this, Beau, now I know what she meant. _

“Wow” Jester said, pulling away to catch her breath.

“Yeah,” Beau said, still wearing that stupid grin.

“That was much better than Fjord. I don’t think that was a real kiss.”

Beau laughs before saying, “Does that make me your first kiss?”

“Well duh Beau, have you seen me kissing anyone else?”

“I hope I don’t. I’m honored to be your first.”

“Hopefully the first first of many firsts.” Jester says with a wink and a salacious grin.

Blushing furiously Beau leaned in for another quick kiss, then another, and another. They were kissing lazily for a while; Beau had just begun to show Jester how kissing with tongue worked when the tiefling yawned. Realizing the late hour Beau suggested that they go to sleep.

“But Beauuuu,” she said drawing out the u sound again, “I want to keep kissing, I think I’m getting good at it.”

“You totally are.” Beau said, punctuating the sentence with another kiss, “But we’ll have time for that in the morning when you’re feeling more awake.”

“Promise?” Jester asked with a hint of hesitance, like she was worried Beau would change her mind after a good night’s sleep.

“I promise.” Beau said with such sincerity that it wiped away Jester’s fears.

Jester opened up her arms and Beau settled in to snuggle properly against the blue girl. They both fell peacefully into the best sleep they had in weeks.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Yasha woke early to the soft rumble of distant thunder on the horizon. She lay still in bed for a while reveling in the sound of her friends sleeping nearby. She had taken to enjoying the quiet peaceful moments, since breaking free of Oban’s control she had a new found appreciation of the little things in life.

A flash of lightning illuminated the room and she sat up, ready to get a start on her day. She looked over to the bed across from hers and was surprised to see it empty and devoid of covers. It didn’t take her long to find the missing blankets, they were piled atop a snoozing Jester and Beau who were snuggled up so close that Yasha could hardly tell where one began and the other ended under the blankets. She was not caught off guard by the sight, smiling she thought that the two would be good for each other. Happy that they finally worked their shit out she made a mental note to tell Nott when she woke up about the development, she knew that the goblin would love to give them shit about it. Taking her own blanket off the bed, she covered her friends before heading down stairs to breakfast.


End file.
